


The Dead Never Really Forget

by MothraFairy



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Afterlife, Angst, Guilt, I'm Bad At Tagging, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, but i don't care to fix it, i'm writing this to help my emotions, is it major character death if she is already dead, jet gets to know her aunts, jet rocks watches over her sister, the death order is wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24660964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MothraFairy/pseuds/MothraFairy
Summary: +MAJOR SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 9 OF A CROWN OF CANDY+It was strange to be taller than Ruby, though technically she wasn’t taller she was just looking at her from above . . . because she haddied. It was hard to wrap her mind around the idea that she was dead and that the people she was spending time with now, her aunts, were alsodead.
Relationships: Caramelinda Rocks/Lazuli Rocks
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	1. The Beginning of Her End

It was strange to be taller than Ruby, though technically she wasn’t taller she was just looking at her from above . . . because she had _died_. It was hard to wrap her mind around the idea that she was dead and that the people she was spending time with now, her aunts, were also _dead_. 

Being dead didn’t feel very different from being alive in some ways, she could still feel and talk and see but in some ways it was very easy to tell. It was easy to know she was dead when she would instinctively turn to speak to her sister only for no one be beside her, it was easy to tell she was dead when she remembered that Ruby was still _alive_. 

Meeting her aunts had been a trip. Rococoa had been the one to pull her from her poisoned body and into the afterlife and more than that Rococoa had been her idol as she grew up. Rococoa though did not quite know what to do when Jet began to blubber in her arms, neither her life nor her death had improved her ability to comfort a crying girl. 

Citrina was the second of her late aunts she met in the sugary afterlife, as she swept her out of Rococoa’s stiff and panicked arms, holding her and rubbing small circles into her back as jet weeped. Her voice was smooth and calm as she comforted the newly dead girl, gently leading her to the area where her sisters had gathered before they had watched the death of their young niece. 

Rococoa stood behind them as though she was guarding them from danger even though it was unnecessary but it was the one thing she could do to hopefully soothe the nervous jitters of her sobbing niece. 

“We all watched you, all your life, and we are so proud” Citrina’s voice finally cut through Jet’s sobs as Jet looked up at her aunt, bleary and confused at what Citrina had said unable to speak as her body continued to silently heave with grief at her death and the separation from her twin sister.

Citrina didn’t elaborate, she simply gestured to a pond of crystal blue so smooth it looked as though it was made of sugar glass and Jet felt drawn to look into it. With slow hesitant steps and than all too fast Jet stumbled to the edge of the crystalline pond. In the edges of her vision she saw Lazuli and Sapphira looking at her as she finally sat at the edge of the pond and looked in. 

The glass pool did not reflect her face as she stared into it, instead she watched as her father fell from the highest town in candia, plumbing to the ground, making a crater on impact and crawling out _alive_. 

She watched her sister stumble home to the castle clutching her half of their lockets as though it would bring her back to life but none the less her sister Ruby was _alive_. 

The image changed to theobald and the corpse of Sir Toby, she stumbled back away from the pond before the scene played out but she gleaned from the pool that Theobald was at the very least _alive_. Jet turned to the four women that surrounded her, all of four them staring back at her. 

“When you say you watch, you mean you actually watched us, like through this pond?” Jet’s voice came half strained as though she thought it would be harder to speak than it actually was. Sapphira answered her with a smile, even without her father’s stories of his sisters Jet could see that Sapphira seemed the most like her pops.

“Yeah the pond lets you look at whats happening to the living, though it takes a bit of practice to not have it skip around, Lazuli is the best at it” Sapphira voice was bright and while it was fundamentally different from her pops’ it filled her with the same calm and comfort that his always did. 

Her brain was rushing a thousand miles a second to gather everything that had happened. 

She was _dead_ , she had died in Liam’s arm after getting poisoned with water daggers. 

Ruby was _alive_ and at least as safe as she could hope right now but most importantly her sister was _alive_.

She was with her aunts, her _dead_ aunts because she _died_ to save Ruby. 

Sapphira was staring at her, actually all of them were staring at her before the thought of someone flickered across her mind _lapin_. 

“Is Lapin here?” the question stumbled out of her mouth before the thought even fully crystalized in her mind. Her aunts seemed slightly taken aback by the question, it certainly wasn’t the first thing they thought she would ask but they recovered quickly enough.

“Lapin Cadbury is not _here_ but you can reach him quite easily the afterlives are all connected if you know how to travel them” Lazuli answered her simply and with a quick smile at the end to Jet. these women have been dead for twenty years and had long since become accustomed to the nature of the afterlife. 

Jet took a deep breath and looked at her aunts, she had grown up idolizing them but as she looked at the four _previous_ Rocks’ sisters she realized she knew very little about them as people. Jet wished Ruby was with her and as suddenly as that thought came guilt flooded in after it. How could she wish Ruby was with her that would mean Ruby would have to be _dead_. 

A flash of recondition crossed Rococoa’s face as she reached out a hand to Jet’s shoulder. 

“You are not wrong to wish for your family here, you don’t need to feel guilt for wanting to have them with you” Rococoa knew the feeling of guilt for wishing you had your sister with you and while she wasn’t Jet’s sister she was still her family and would not let the Jet Rocks fall into the same guilt she had when she first died. 

“Come on let go inside for bit, so we can all talk” Citrina spoke up her voice smooth and calming as slowly the sisters began walking toward a building similar but not quite the same as Castle Candy.


	2. A General's Guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Rococoa Rocks died she watched as her family found out she was gone

Rococoa Rocks woke up with a start heaving on the grass and frantically searching for that _bastard_ Calroy, when she suddenly realized she wasn't on the battlefield anymore and there was no one with her.

Rococoa stumbled to her feet cautiously unsure if this was all a trap. a crystal blue pond only a few feet away was the only thing she could see as she walked cautiously to it, even just to see the extent of her injuries which were surprisingly not too severe if her pain was anything to go by but it could always just be adrenaline. 

instead of her own reflection staring back at her Rococoa saw Amethar in the battle field clutching a dead body, _her_ dead body riddled with arrows. she saw Calroy Cruller put his hand on her baby brother's shoulder like he wasn't the reason she was dead. she was dead and this was the afterlife. 

tearing her eyes away from the images in the pool Rococoa began to wonder if should have paid more attention to Citrina when she spoke of the afterlife.

 _Citrina_ Rococoa remembered holding her sister after Lazuli had died, some part of her wished she could hold Citrina right at that moment. the guilt came the second she processed her thought, to hold Citrina right then Citrina would have to be dead as well. guilt flooded her mind as Rococoa looked back into the pond. 

Sapphria was in one of the tents in their camp, she watched as a solider walked in and told her that Rococoa was dead. Sapphria was stunned still for a moment, if she had been holding anything it would have fallen without a doubt, before tears began to bubble up in her eye and the urge to hold her sister returned to Rococoa and with it the guilt for that thought. 

the image changed to Citrina in her chapel a young priest stumbling to reach her, her warm smile before she hears the news. her sister Rococoa has died, she watches her sister's soft smile morph into grief and loss. she watches Citrina dismiss the priest before collapsing on the alter and sobbing for her sister, and the guilt fills Rococoa as she wishes she could hold her family.

Rococoa stared desperately into the pool as though if she looked hard enough she could will her body back to life. finally a hand placed onto Rococoa's shoulder and Rococoa tears her eyes from the crystalline pool to see Lazuli looking down at her. 

"It's not good to stare at the pool too long" Lazuli spoke and something about it was more comforting than Lazuli had ever been in life, perhaps it was the promise that Lazuli understood this world and that she could rely on her sister to help her. in the moment Rococoa just slightly turned back to catch just one more glimpse of her family, Lazuli held her sister just a fraction tighter and guided her to a Castle in the near distance that was nearly but not quite Castle Candy. 

"looking in the pool too long only hurts" Lazuli was speaking from experience.


	3. The Regret of a Choice Well Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lazuli knew she was gonna die when she made her choice but she didn't know she would have to watch after.

Lazuli wasn't too shocked when she opened her eyes after she died, she had an inkling of a vision about this place that looked like it could be Castle Candy but fundamentally wasn't. she had not seen the crystal pond in her vision but than again her vision had been quick and blurred and it wouldn't have caught her eye. the afterlife was quieter than she had anticipated but than again things like afterlives were more in Citrina's interest. 

The thought of Citrina _her sister_ filled her head for a moment, she hadn't thought of the idea that after she was gone she would still be aware of the world she left behind. Lazuli blinked the thought away and realized that when she was distracted thinking about her sister she had approached the edge of the pond. the smooth surface shimmered and warped till it showed her Rococoa holding their siblings, Citrina, Sapphria and Amethar in her arms, they were all sobbing. Lazuli felt a pang of guilt wash through her but she pushed it back, her family was still alive because of what she did and at least only one of them was dead. 

the image in the pool shimmered and began to change, Caramelinda her sweet beautiful Caramelinda receiving a letter from the war front. she watched as her face shifted from nervous excitement to horror. the way the letter fluttered to the ground as her hands began to shake too violently to keep a grasp on it, the tears that began to run down her cheeks, Lazuli had never thought she would have to watch as the love of her life learned of her death. 

guilt ran through her again, how could she put Caramelinda through this and this time the thought that she was safer now didn't push the feelings back. Her siblings had each other to hold as they grieved her passing but Caramelinda was alone, weeping for her lost love. the tears in her eyes obscured the pond long enough for Lazuli to tear her gaze away and to the nearly perfect Castle Candy.

the castle was nearly home, it looked like her home but Lazuli realized Castle Candy always felt lived in but this one was too perfect too stale. it was wrong but it was the all she had and it was nearly her home, she didn't sleep in her room as the afterlife entered it's hazy night but in Rococoa's. when Lazuli was very little she had gone to Rococoa's room when she had nightmares and something about her room even the stagnate one in the afterlife calmed her. 

the guilt of wishing for her siblings and her love hurt and for a moment Lazuli wished the afterlife wasn't real.


	4. The Shame of Feeling Whole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was no grand plot or great sacrifice to Sapphria’s death

Sapphria didn’t fight like Amethar she was quick and spry and elegant, Amethar was strong and heavy and durable. her sisters had died in this war and Sapphria was not fighting how she learned anymore. Of course she still had Citrina and Amethar but Rococoa and Lazuli were gone and her swipes were harsh and full of rage when she fought now, but Sapphria wasn’t Amethar and she was not made to fight while blinded by rage. 

There was no grand plot or great sacrifice to Sapphria’s death just a grieving girl fighting till someone stopped her.

Lazuli was the one who pulled Sapphia into their afterlife, Rococoa had too many tears in her eyes to be comforting to her little sister but she was right there waiting for her on the grassy fields of their not quite home. 

Sapphria didn’t know how to feel as she collapsed on to the ground, on the one hand she was happy to see her dead sisters again but on the other Amethar and Citrina had to go though another death before they even had time to heal from the last two. she remembered the three of them gathering in Citrina's chapel after Rococoa's death and weeping in each others arms holding each other as close as possible. There was some semblance of reason to Lazuli's sacrifice even if it left a bad taste in their mouths but Rococoa was just killed by the natures of war, like she just had.

Sapphria gripped the fabric of Lazuli's clothes, like she was a kid again, as the two most emotionally stiff of her sisters tried their best to soothe her. Rococoa was clearly just trying to do what she thought Citrina would do in this situation which wasn't _super helpful_ to Sapphria who was mainly crying at the fact that she had left Citrina and Amethar alone. her face was crushed into Lazuli's robe soaking the fabric as both Lazuli and Rococoa attempted to rub soothing circles on her back.

as Sapphria lifted her head from Lazuli's robe she caught a glimpse of a pond only a few steps away and the urge to look into it filled her. She stared up at her sisters from the ground, her round blue eyes glistening with tears as they helped her stand. 

"the pool shows you the living" Rococoa said her voice tight as she gently guilded Sapphria who suddenly felt as though she was a kid again as she held a sister in each hand. A quick flash of pain came with that thought as if she was a child again Citrina would be with them. her sisters slowly led her to the pool and as she stared into it the surface shimmered till it showed her Amethar. 

Amethar was standing by her corpse, full of an endless rage as he beat back soldier after soldier. no words came from her distraught little brother just pained screams and roars as he cut down the enemy. 

Citrina was praying at the small shrine she dedicated to her sisters, Rococoa and Lazuli, unaware that she had lost another sister to the war.

the pool shimmered again but Lazuli guided her away to look at the afterlife version of their home that with both Rococoa and Lazuli living in now looked tad more lively than it had when the other two had arrived.

Sapphria felt a little bit of shame at the comfort she got from her sisters as they walked to a home that they would make together and a part of her hoped it would be a long time before Citrina and Amethar joined them.


	5. the envy of another

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To Belizabeth even the solemn Citrina was radiant

Citrina had always believed brightly, the bulb shined down equally on everyone so she would love people freely like the bulb. It was harder than ever to love everyone as with every step this war took she lost another one of her sisters, she would pray that this war would end before she had to see her little brother dead like her sisters. 

It didn’t occur to Citrina that her brother could be the only one left alive at the end of this war, why would she Citrina was in Bright Garden to help the church not going into combat like Amethar. 

Belizabeth was another member of the church who was more settled in Bright Garden. She was better at the complexity of running an organized church than Citrina but perhaps less close in her bond to the Bulb than Citrina herself. Citrina’s magic was like mid Highbright, full of warmth and comfort. Belizabeth’s magic was not nearly as warm and bright as Citrina’s but Citrina felt none of the contempt for Belizabeth that she had slowly stewed for Citrina. 

To Belizabeth even the solemn Citrina was radiant, and it ate at her heart so much she believed that she was being tested in her devotion to the bulb. Citrina was charming in a way that Belizabeth couldn’t quite gather in her mind and it bounce around her head till she came to a chilling conclusion, Citrina was tempting her to the Hungry One. what was this feeling but a kind of greed that rooted it’s self in her desire to be near her. 

Citrina was unaware of the muddled emotions of Belizabeth as she kept herself busy in Bright Garden to keep her mind off the absence of her family. 

It happened on her evening walk, something Citrina had to taken to clear her head. It all happened so fast Citrina herself hardly caught what happened to her till she felt the blades of Vegetanian soldiers embed themself into her stomach, she could taste her own sacchrine blood on her tongue till her vision faded till the image of her sisters filled her sight and with her final moments still living reached her hand up towards her sisters.

Her soul kept going after her body went limp on the streets of Bright Garden and tumbled into her sisters waiting arms. Sapphria pushed her head into her chest holding her as tight as she could, Rococoa place her head on Citrina’s shoulder and Lazuli held her hand as the four of them wept and held each other close. 

Somewhere in each of them they felt the aching feeling that Amethar was all alone now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i usually focus on the arrival to the afterlife rather than their death but i just really wanted to write something like this for Citrina, hopefully soon I'll do some more afterlife focused stuff.


End file.
